China got an electric BMW i3 sedan before the rest of the world. During a recent test drive, the vehicle caught fire and forced the occupant to exit the vehicle quickly. Some small flames were seen under the car, they do appear to get bigger.
They never engulf the vehicle and the fire looks like it stays contained to the same area. It is likely that is not a battery pack fire, especially given that it’s located towards the rear of the vehicle where the traction motor is. Possibly, this is why it didn’t suddenly burst into flames surrounding the entire vehicle from underneath as we’ve seen in so many EV battery pack fires. These usually result in the complete destruction of the vehicle, but in this case, the i3 sedan probably lived to drive another day with some repairs, although the incident will surely be investigated by both BMW and authorities.
According to the source article, the China-only i3 began reaching customers last month when 1,613 units were reportedly delivered. Apparently, the vehicle isn’t as appealing to customers as BMW had thought, and it’s nowhere near as popular as the Model 3 which is still seen as the best deal in the segment.
The rear of the electric BMW 3 Series, which is currently only available in China, caught fire when a customer and an employee of a BMW dealership went on a test drive near the Chinese city of Zhengzhou. The location and comparatively small extent of the fire suggests that a defective electric motor in the BMW i3 may have been the cause of the fire, according to Notebook Check.
BMW i3 Sedan
The BMW i3 sedan is only sold with a single-motor eDrive35L model that makes 282 horsepower and 400 Nm (295 pound-feet) of torque. It draws from a 70.3 kWh battery pack with a net capacity of 66.1 kWh and in China, it has a claimed range 526 km (327 miles), although the figure would be closer to 400 km (250 miles) if calculated on the European WLTP test cycle, and even less as per the EPA.
The first units of the new BMW i3 were delivered this June, and it is estimated that around 1,600 customers have since taken ownership of the new electric car. With its 70 kWh battery and a peak performance of 282 horsepower, the electric BMW 3 Series has not much in common with the discontinued subcompact EV hatchback that was also named “BMW i3”. Presumably, the German automaker will thoroughly investigate this scary fire incident in order to further improve the reliability of the electric BMW 3 Series, which is expected to snatch some market share from the popular Tesla Model 3.
